For a decade, powerful politicians and the news media trumpeted claims that child sex traffickers are everywhere.

Then came Pizzagate and QAnon.

In The Intercept, I describe how a moral panic over sex ads birthed our current conspiracy theories.

bit.ly/4aY2FT9

I can't express how helpful it is to the visibility of a project like ours — a sprawling narrative doc series that has just one season to find its audience — for people like Bryan and The Ringer to tell people how fuckin good the show is. Much obliged, y'all

twitter.com/bryancurtis/st…

Listen to this very smart man!

Before they battled the DOJ, the owners of New Times and Backpage faced off against the most notorious sheriff in America

The 'Hold Fast' podcast on Audible is a worthy account of the rise and fall of Jim Larkin and Mike Lacey's New Times/Backpage empire. audible.com/pd/Hold-Fast-A…

Listen to this very intelligent woman

A new podcast, 'Hold Fast: The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website,' tells the story of the largest alt-weekly chain in the country and what happened when it ventured into adult ads. From Trevor Aaronson @sameifling Michael J. Mooney: bit.ly/3TQgZDY

Backpage was set up as something of a competitor to Craigslist. But it found itself in the crosshairs of the feds. Hear more from Trevor Aaronson, @sameifling, and Michael J. Mooney on this week’s show: bit.ly/3TQgZDY

This episode was so good. Give a listen.

Loving this wild ride of a story from Michael J. Mooney and friends. His first (of surely many more) in podcast form! audible.com/holdfast

Three former New Times journalists interview their old boss, a controversial alt-weekly media mogul, about the prosecutions of Backpage. Listen to Trevor Aaronson, @sameifling, and Michael J. Mooney on this week’s show: bit.ly/3TQgZDY

Show’s up! Insight from: Tricia Romano @tromano.bsky.social, Trevor Aaronson, @sameifling, Michael J. Mooney: link.chtbl.com/onthemedia?sid…

The untold story of Backpage, as reported by Michael J. Mooney?

Yes, please:

audible.com/pd/B0CYNFZVXY?…

'I never had so much fun pulling a regular paycheck,' Tristram Korten writes in CJR.

He's describing his days working for Miami New Times, a once mighty alt-weekly. (1/3) bit.ly/3VSh7rf

Oh hey, ⁦CJR⁩ wrote about a new podcast that sounds pretty great. cjr.org/first_person/a…

'Sex workers did absolutely appreciate Back Page because they had their own marketplace.' Michael J. Mooney, on the Smoke 'Em podcast (link in bio). HOLD FAST, about the rise and fall of the New Times empire, dropped yesterday. It's tremendous audible.com/pd/Hold-Fast-A…

So excited to listen to this Michael J. Mooney

P.s. Hold Fast was, for some time, a placeholder title. But throughout production we all got very attached to Michael J. Mooney ‘s smokey, growling delivery of “this…is Hold Fast.” Thank god we didn’t change the title. If nothing else, listen for that.

This dropped today on Audible, a 9-part podcast on the award-winning journalist that the feds want to die in prison: Michael Lacey. 'Hold Fast: The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website'
audible.com/pd/Hold-Fast-A…

Exciting news! My first podcast, an Audible Original, is out today: audible.com/holdfast

I teamed up with Sam Eifling and Trevor Aaronson to tell a story about sex, money, media, power, and one of the most important free speech cases of our time.

It’s a real wild ride…